The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 40th Anniversary Restored Theatrical Release on June, 21, 2014!

Much like the way George A. Romero established one of the most respected and important reputations as an Auteur in the horror genre with the 1968 original, Night of the Living Dead, Tobe Hooper established himself with what would be the first of a quarter of killers that haunted movie theaters and nightmares of film fans with his classic and still unequaled masterpiece, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Now a completely restored 4K transfer of the film is being releases theatrically on June 21, 2014. 

Looking at the trailer alone, the difference between the previous home video releases and the 40th anniversary edition is almost unprecedented. The film now looks like it was made today with the intention of having a look and feel of a film produced in the 1970s, which arguably is one of the greatest decades for theatrical films of all types.

Previously on home video the best version of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre to see was the one produced by Don May, Jr., who is the President of Synapse Films, which co-founded with Jerry Chandler. Synapse Films is one of the pioneers in bringing cult cinema to mainstream audiences with loving care not unlike the work that is done for The Criterion Collection. 

All genre film fans and home video producers owe a great amount of respect and thanks to Don because even before Synapse Films, Don May Jr. pioneered the art of taking horror films and creating spot on, top shelf laserdisc releases. Were it not for Don May Jr., the studios and independent distributors alike may have never taken an interest in their catalogs of genre film classics, which of course they all have since with home video releases on DVD and Blu-ray Disc.

Prior to the upcoming theatrical release of the 40th Anniversary Edition, the reference quality and definitive edition of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre was overseen and produced by Don so I wondered if he had anything to do with this new release of the horror classic and so I got in touch and asked him. 

Don replied "They approached me to do it but, because of my schedule conflicts (and the time constraint/deadline) I couldn’t do it. They used my notes, etc. and initial timing info to do it, and Tobe tweaked some other things."

Thank you Don for enlightening me about this so I can pass it on to others. Please visit Synapse Films' website to see their incredible collection of cult genre cinema. Please note Synapse Films also as a channel available to Roku users. The website address for Synapse Films is:

http://www.synapse-films.com/

Below is a link to the stunningly restored 40th Anniversary Edition of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre at Apple Trailers:

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre - See the trailer 

http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/independent/thetexaschainsawmassacre

Thank you.

(C) Copyright 2014 By Mark Rivera

All Rights Reserved.